tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post1439093188618360186..comments2024-03-28T17:49:01.125+00:00Comments on Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness: NIHRC - as a good teacher says, 'always read the question'. No Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland under Tories.Owen Polleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00567787385096905811noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-40559666065338255922009-05-29T16:10:43.963+01:002009-05-29T16:10:43.963+01:00McWilliams won't be sucking on the taxpayers teat ...McWilliams won't be sucking on the taxpayers teat much longer. Give it to next May. <br /><br />I can understand anger about MPs, but at least they're elected. it's people like her, who represent nobody, who really take the biscuit.Owen Polleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00567787385096905811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-60004751321899167732009-05-29T16:00:43.841+01:002009-05-29T16:00:43.841+01:00Human Rights chief hits back at critics
Published...Human Rights chief hits back at critics<br /><br />Published Date: 29 May 2009<br /><br />CHIEF Human Rights Commissioner Monica McWilliams has hit back at unionists who have continued to attack her Commission's proposals for a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights.<br />Reacting to a welcome from unionist representatives for Conservative leader David Cameron's rejection of her proposals, Professor McWilliams said that comments from both the DUP and UUP were wrong.<br /><br />The former Women's Coalition politician said that<br />she had the support of Secretary of State Shaun Woodward who, she said, did not believe the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) had gone beyond its remit with the scope of its Bill of Rights proposals, despite Mr Woodward having said just that two months ago.<br /><br />Last night unionists said that she was desperately trying to save her Bill of Rights proposals which appear less and less likely to ever make it into law.<br /><br />In a statement to the News Letter, Prof McWilliams said: "Claims that the Secretary of State had been forced to admit that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission had gone well beyond its brief in providing advice on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland are misleading.<br /><br />"The Secretary of State has written to the Chief Commissioner and stated that he has 'no reason to believe that the commission has exceeded its statutory remit'.<br /><br />"The assertion that the commission simply adopted proposals put forward by the Bill of Rights Forum is inaccurate.<br /><br />"The commission as an independent body formulated its own views in accordance with the mandate given to it by Government.<br /><br />"The claim that the commission's recommendations on social and economic rights will remove power from democratically elected representatives is wrong."<br /><br />DUP European election candidate Diane Dodds said that it was "regrettable" that Prof McWilliams, "who heads an organisation which is riddled with division, should be launching broadsides not only against local political figures who disagree with her, but also the Secretary of State for pointing out the fact that the recommendations go far beyond the brief provided for a Bill of Rights.<br /><br />"Such a course of action demonstrates how out of step with wider public opinion she is."<br /><br />An Ulster Unionist spokesman said: "The somewhat desperate tone of the NIHRC's comments only underlines its utter failure to win support across the political spectrum for its highly divisive proposals.<br /><br />"Each and every public statement made by the Chief Commissioner, Monica McWilliams, is further proof of this."<br /><br />Appearing to reject what Mr Woodward told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in April, when he said that the NIHRC had gone "well beyond the brief they were given," an NIO spokesman said: "We do not believe it (the remit) has been exceeded."<br /><br />http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Human-Rights-chief-hits-back.5314420.jpGarynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-62366054020248689502009-05-28T18:57:57.861+01:002009-05-28T18:57:57.861+01:00O'Neill
Yes, rather irritating isn't it!
I suspe...O'Neill<br /><br />Yes, rather irritating isn't it!<br /><br />I suspect it's because it's a phone poll, but I was interested in other detail. I suspect it's a rather flawed survey, as the debate has moved on from what the questions actually ask.<br /><br />I'd love to say more, but the NIHRC doesn't believe I have the right to ask!<br /><br />GonzoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-84429344513978220062009-05-28T18:51:38.686+01:002009-05-28T18:51:38.686+01:00Gonzo,
Refused to give the poll to you?!
If it's...Gonzo,<br /><br />Refused to give the poll to you?!<br /><br />If it's been done by any half decent polling organisation then it would surely be independently on that site?O'Neillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02531858236570346203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-80001420931738647312009-05-28T17:01:23.434+01:002009-05-28T17:01:23.434+01:00I love it when non-Unionists can speak out on beha...I love it when non-Unionists can speak out on behalf of Unionists. You get the wind up merchants everywhere these days.Garynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-42892400822000643762009-05-28T13:50:17.072+01:002009-05-28T13:50:17.072+01:00I intended to blog about the poll on Slugger, but ...I intended to blog about the poll on Slugger, but the Human Rights Consortium has refused to give it to me. Wonder why.<br /><br />GonzoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-67986449019370524052009-05-28T13:47:53.313+01:002009-05-28T13:47:53.313+01:00Anon,
Whether the government (of which Woodward i...Anon,<br /><br />Whether the government (of which Woodward is a part) universally recognises that the NIHRC has gone beyond its remit or not is not relevant. It has. The remit is there, in the Belfast Agreement, in black and white. At no point have I read Patrick, or anyone else, outlining why any right in the NIHRC's document is particular to Northern Ireland. <br /><br />I'm not the one putting forward an interpretation of the agreement's wording. I'm sticking to the actual words which the agreement used. <br /><br />As for these polls, were they predicated on the actual suggestions made by the NIHRC? Ask people if they are for or against rights and naturally they will say that they are for. I would say the same myself. And that has been the entire basis of the rights' lobbies argument. If you call anything a right then it becomes incontestable. <br /><br />So by all means come back and talk specific rights and how they are particularly relevant to Northern Ireland. Otherwise fuck off with woolly minded nonsense.Owen Polleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00567787385096905811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-38795106331171710432009-05-28T13:28:43.835+01:002009-05-28T13:28:43.835+01:00Silly! Opinions polls are easily manipulated by th...Silly! Opinions polls are easily manipulated by those seeking particular answers. It's a well known phenomenon, anonymous.<br /><br />e.g do you want human rights? are human rights a good thing?Dinamohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09390394353878527960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-23935747141659327812009-05-28T13:06:17.152+01:002009-05-28T13:06:17.152+01:00Of course, as Patrick at Amnesty has already point...Of course, as Patrick at Amnesty has already pointed out, the Government has already corrected Shaun Woodward in this suggestion, that you repeat, that the NIHRC has somehow gone 'beyond its remit': http://blogs.amnesty.org.uk/blogs_entry.asp?eid=3213<br /><br />You may, for your own perfectly sound ideological reasons, wish to put forward your own interpretation on the Agreement's wording or express your own opinion on the advice of the Commission, but that doesn't make your opinion correct. But, it certainly seems to mark you as out of touch with ordinary unionist voters, as evidenced by a decade's worth of independently-carried out opinion polls.<br /><br />This is not a green-orange issue, even if some people are determined to try to make it appear so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-59998303786356798492009-05-28T12:52:38.755+01:002009-05-28T12:52:38.755+01:00Extremely good news. Not against a Bill of Rights...Extremely good news. Not against a Bill of Rights per se just not one for Northern Ireland only. It was a nationalist pet project in my opinion.Garynoreply@blogger.com